Club Crawl

Local gal-made-good Lisa Shaw's new record Cherry is reminiscent of mid-'90s trip-hop records; it isn't a rehash. Moody, atmospheric, and silky, the songs are nevertheless distinctive and don't disappear into one another, as other smooth recordings sometimes do. Cherry, made with Eric Stamile and Naked Music label co-founder Jay Denes, is a romp through deep house and mellow-yellow downbeat tunes, but it's strongest when she's on the upswing. Surprisingly catchy, Cherry doesn't fall prey to the problem that plagues so many Naked records (out here on the East Coast, we call this stuff adult contemporary house or martini house)namely, safe mediocrity. Ms. Shaw's celebrating the record's release with a live show, band and all.
Friday @ 7, Canal Room, 285 W Bway, 212-941-8100

A friend once told me how, when he was visiting Tokyo, he stood in a line that snaked around the block to see Theo Parrish play at a club rivaling Twilo. To give you an idea of how simultaneously lame and spoiled we are, when Parrish plays New York, it's at APT, a teeny, tiny bar in a basementalbeit a teeny, tiny bar in a basement with an amazing sound system. Mr. Parrish, I apologize. The Chicago-raised house producer who found his way to Detroit has a sound that's an amalgam of Chicago's deep-rooted funk and Detroit's ethereal, futuristic synths. Tuesday @ 10, APT, 419 W 13th, 212-414-4245

photo: Jay Denes

Lisa Shaw

Pardon me if I go all team spirit for a minute. Voice gal and techno obsessive Geeta Dayal celebrates her birthday at the Bunker, with help from longtime Voice writer and superstar dance music author Simon Reynolds, who is DJ'ing. Actually, his cohort, the equally trusty and knowledgeable Paul Kennedy, does the spinning while Reynolds plays selecta. Reynolds knows more about dance music than possibly any other human being on the planet, so just imagine his record collection. Friday @ 10, Subtonic, 107 Norfolk, 212-358-7501